Meanings of community in contexts of multiculture: The role of citizenship, identity, and cultural changes

Sense of community (SOC) can be an important concept in relation to cultural and social changes affecting Western societies because of immigration. The focus of this article is on community, immigration, and contexts of multiculture as the starting point to analyze changes and their consequences in everyday lives. Interviews were conducted with 15 leaders living in Reggio Emilia's Station Zone (Italy) to explore meanings of SOC in the contexts of multiculture. The interviews were analyzed for recurring and unique themes. Results show the importance of immigrants' culture of origin, which affects their idea of community, as well as feelings about identity and citizenship, perceptions of the context, and intercultural relation. Different results were found for participants who are native to Italy. We discuss the results with reference to SOC and immigration in a global world.